Quantum Capacitance Based Amplified Graphene Phononics for Studying Neurodegenerative Diseases

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is the most common adult-onset motor neuron disease (MND) characterized by a rapid loss of upper and lower motor neurons resulting in patient death from respiratory failure within 3-5 years of initial symptom onset. Although at least 30 genes of major effect have been reported, the pathobiology of ALS is not well understood. Compounding this is the lack of a reliable laboratory test which can accurately diagnose this rapidly deteriorating disease. Herein, we report on the phonon vibration energies of graphene as a sensitive measure of the composite dipole moment of the interfaced cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) that includes a signature-composition specific to the patients with ALS disease. The second-order overtone of in-plane phonon vibration energy (2D peak) of graphene shifts by 3.2 ± 0.5 cm^-1 for all ALS patients studied in this work. Further, the amount of n-doping-induced shift in the phonon energy of graphene, interfaced with CSF, is specific to the investigated neurodegenerative disease (ALS, multiple sclerosis, and MND). By removing a severe roadblock in disease detection, this technology can be applied to study diagnostic biomarkers for researchers developing therapeutics and clinicians initiating treatments for neurodegenerative diseases.